SUN CITY – Immediate medical care is coming to Prairie Lodge this spring.
Soon, residents needing a flu shot, a prescription written, a look at a skin condition, or aid for a cut finger in the kitchen can get help without leaving Sun City, as Centegra’s Wellness Center in Prairie Lodge expands to become an immediate care clinic, scheduled to open this spring.
“Over the past several years, many of you [residents] have requested expanded services, and we are responding to your valuable feedback,” Centegra officials said on the Sun City Community Association website.
Resident requests will bring new medical services to Sun City’s Wellness Center this spring. (Chris La Pelusa/Sun Day Photo)
The added services, along with all of the wellness and educational activities currently provided, will be offered in the present Wellness Center next to the Fitness Center in Prairie Lodge.
The center’s traditional services include monthly support group meetings, psychologist consultations, presentations about diseases by Centegra physicians, and screenings provided by staff members.
“This expanded program will be a small immediate care clinic,” Matt Carlen, vice president of Health and Wellness for Centegra Health System, said. “A nurse practitioner will provide all of the additional services and our on-site physician will continue to be available from noon to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays. We will not have X-ray facilities, but we will provide almost all other immediate care resources.
“We are working with the Sun City staff to modify our facility in Prairie Lodge and install some new equipment to accommodate the clinic activities,” Carlen added. “We should be ready to go with the expanded program some time in [the next] several weeks.”
Cathy Segarra, a registered nurse and the Wellness Center’s program manager, will continue in her current role, according to Carlen.
Normal fees for treatments will be required, and the clinic will work with residents’ insurance providers. Other than the direct fees for services, this expansion is coming at no cost to Sun City residents, according to Bill Bendick, treasurer of the Association Board of Directors.
“Centegra is providing all of the financial resources to make this happen,” he said.
Announcements regarding the opening date of these new activities will be made in advance of the actual rollout of services, Carlen said.
